# Telemann **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106 "2011-12-14T00:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/1 "2011-12-14T00:12:50Z")
From the thread on things you’re surprised others don’t know… How many of you have heard of Georg Philip Telemann? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/2 "2011-12-14T00:26:25Z")
He’s the banana guy right? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/3 "2011-12-14T01:15:32Z")
Well, now I have. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/4 "2011-12-14T01:21:40Z")
I have to say I don’t recognize the first and middle name, but unless there’s some other Telemann I’m unaware of, he’s the Baroque composer, who wrote (among many other things…) one of the few actual viola concertos. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/5 "2011-12-14T01:44:16Z")
Yes, definitely:I’ve sung some of his works. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/6 "2011-12-14T01:50:02Z")
Time to fire up the turntable. I’ve got a Nonesuch album of Georg Philip Telemann–from \*many \*years ago… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/7 "2011-12-14T02:07:38Z")
Never heard of him. Now I’ll check the spoilers. Edit: or I could ask my aunt the musician… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/8 "2011-12-14T03:14:26Z")
Come, Mr Telemann, tell-a me bananas… Nope, never heard of him. Did he invent Telemark skiing? ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/9 "2011-12-14T03:21:27Z")
Telemann doesn’t have as good a PR agent as Vivaldi, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/10 "2011-12-14T03:27:50Z")
Yes, I’ve even played some of his music (violin & viola). ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/11 "2011-12-14T03:44:28Z")
My wife especially is of the opinion, if it’s Baroque, don’t fix it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/12 "2011-12-14T04:25:02Z")
Heard of him, heard some of his compositions, might even own some, but couldn’t pick him or his work out of a lineup. I used to listen to a lot of classical music on public radio, but that was a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/13 "2011-12-14T05:10:50Z")
I wrote a paper in my undergrad entitled, “You can Telemann by his music!” where I basically discussed my reasoning as to why Bach’s legacy has been so much more robust compared to Telemann, who was actually a more prolific composer, and more popular in his day than old J.S. I’ve been listening to his music from “Don Quixote” and the Darmstadt overtures lately. One of my absolute faves. Good thread! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/14 "2011-12-14T07:08:00Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I wrote a paper in my undergrad entitled, “You can Telemann by his music!” where I basically discussed my reasoning as to why Bach’s legacy has been so much more robust compared to Telemann, who was actually a more prolific composer, and more popular in his day than old J.S. > > I’ve been listening to his music from “Don Quixote” and the Darmstadt overtures lately. One of my absolute faves. > > Good thread! This is such a cool group! People who’ve sung his works, and someone who wrote a paper on him! I utterly adore the Don Quixote suite; hauntingly beautiful! I don’t know the Darmstadt overtures; I’ll make haste to get 'em! (I just checked, and Amazon’s got 'em!) Do you know the “Water Music” or “Hamburger Ebb und Fluth?” Delightful! I guess this really is a worthy companion topic to “Things you were surprised people didn’t know:” it’s something I’m surprised so many people did know! ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/15 "2011-12-14T14:13:38Z")
Yes, I’ve played Telemann on recorder. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/16 "2011-12-14T14:26:46Z")
My undergraduate advisor was _the_ authority on Telemann and spent a lot of time in the then-East Germany digging through various poorly-maintained archives and finding lost Telemann manuscripts. A very capable and successful composer and an important influence on Bach’s sons (IIRC he was CPE’s godfather) and others but I find his music a tad boring. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/17 "2011-12-14T15:06:23Z")
I had the vague idea he was a composer, but that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/18 "2011-12-14T15:16:09Z")
Yes, though I don’t know whether I would have if I hadn’t played violin since I was three (I have no idea, for example, of any sports people of relative importance in the sports world). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/19 "2011-12-14T15:27:33Z")
Also the inventor of telemarketing. ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106/20 "2011-12-14T15:57:02Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Come, Mr Telemann, tell-a me bananas… > > Nope, never heard of him. Did he invent Telemark skiing? Ahh, that’s why the word skiing popped up in the dusty recesses of my mind. Close, but no cigar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemann/606106.md?page=2)